


Once Upon A Time While Hiding Outdoors

by Enina



Series: Singularity [3]
Category: The Flash (Comics), The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: Barry has still a lot of demons to fight, Barry is a teenager, First Meetings, Gen, Len is in his early twenties, Past Abuse, Simon is a good friend, bad and distorted self-perception, barry is not having a good night, he is getting there, he would rather study, he's not a fan of parties, slight PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-01-04
Packaged: 2019-10-04 07:21:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17300270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enina/pseuds/Enina
Summary: Simon took Barry to a party to get out and have fun. Barry wishes he hadn't.Companion piece to "Once Upon A Time In A Dark, Seedy Back-Alley".





	Once Upon A Time While Hiding Outdoors

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Quintessenzza](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quintessenzza/gifts).



> The idea for this chapter just jumped me today on my way home from work. It can be seen as a companion piece to the fanfic I posted yesterday "Once Upon A Time In A Dark, Seedy Back-Alley". It describes the event from Barry's POV.
> 
> It is not edited, which means you'll likely come across some errors while reading. I hope they aren't too grating, and feel free to point them out to me. I always appreciate help in that regard. :)
> 
> Again, I want to gift this story to my fantastic editor and friend Quintessenzza (you deserve way more gift-fics, really)!
> 
> Warning: Mentioning of past physical/sexual abuse of a minor, violence, swearing, PTSD

* * *

_"You need to socialize more, Barry."_

That's something Simon keeps telling him. _All_ the time.

Barry shivers, looking up to the cloudy night sky.

The weather has been cold and wet for the last two day. Perfect to stay in the dorms and study.

Barry frowns and averts his eyes back to the grounds. He exhales a heavy sigh, leaning back against the front of the apartment building he arrived at about two hours ago. He has hardly touched it when already feels the cold seep through the multiple layers of clothing he is wearing.

He should be at the dormitories right now. Studying for his upcoming chemistry exam. Not somewhere close to the Keys, at a party of one of Simon's friend's friend.

"Socializing is imp-portant," Barry mutters to himself. Another statement his friend and roommate likes to make around him.

It's not that Simon is wrong. Barry knows his friend has a point. He does tend to hide away too much in their shared room at the campus if he isn't busy with lectures or lab work. It is just that he doesn't enjoy socializing as much other people seem to do.

It's plain exhausting, most of the time.

The dulled down sound of the music from the second floor reaches him even down here. Simon's friend - David? -, who is hosting the party, has turned the volume up way too loud for Barry's liking. He is honestly surprised nobody of the neighbors has called the police yet.

Then again, this area doesn't look like someplace people tend to complain about something like that. Or get the police involved if they can help it.

Barry is glad their dormitories are very strict about such things. His sleeping troubles are bad enough without added noise pollution.

Another shiver runs through him, briefly causing his teeth to chatter.

It's way too cold for the jacket he put on. He seriously needs to save up for a winter jacket. Getting cold is out of the question, considering all the coursework he has to do.

Mrs. Vogric told him she would consider to hire him part-time as a laboratory assistant if he keeps his scores up, after all. That would also take care of how he can get the money together for an actual winter jacket.

It probably would be wiser to go back inside again.

Barry lifts his head, glancing up towards the illuminated windows two floors above him. There, he knows, about fifteen other teenagers are currently having a good time.

A frown settles over his face.

Simon introduced him to the others. He always puts effort into getting Barry to know people, has done so since the very first day they became roommates just last semester.

The gesture is appreciated, really, but Barry just isn't someone who is good with other people. Well, other than Simon, apparently, and he has no idea why the other boy actually likes him. So far, people generally tended to stay away from him, ever since he can remember, really.

He isn't a people person, and he is okay with that.

Although, it _is_ nice to have found a friend in Simon.

Barry has pondered the possible reasons why his roommate wants him around many times over the last year. He expected his time in college to go by very similar to his time in High School. Or any previous school.

Kicking a pebble, Barry glances up, absentmindedly noticing a little group of four men out of the corner of his eyes. He turns his face slightly in their direction. Uneasiness settles over him when he notices that they're entering the back ally of the building, about 30 feet away from him.

They look like the kind of people others better stay away from if they don't want to get mixed up in trouble. One of the guys, a big, burly one, looks his way. The expression he wears is harsh, grim, nearly threatening, and Barry notices the scar running down from his shaved head to his right temple.

Barry quickly averts his eyes, looking back down to the wet ground in front of his shoes.

The sound of the falling rain has grown significantly louder since he left the building about ten minutes ago. It has also become colder, causing another shiver to run through his body.

If the temperatures dropped just another two degrees, they would have to deal with the first snow of the year. Not something Barry was looking forward to. He likes snow well enough, just not the brown mess it turns into inside the Gems or any other bigger city.

The familiar sound of someone getting punched reaches him. His body freezes up on its own accord.

Barry swallows nervously.

He should go back upstairs. He's been out here long enough. Simon will get worried about him, otherwise.

There is another thud, followed by another one shortly afterward. The noise is faint, hard to hear next to the falling rain and the still ongoing music coming from above.

It's unmistakable all the same.

Barry grew up with the sound of people being abused. He knows what it sounds like when someone's fist collides with a face or upper body.

He should leave.

He listens.

Whoever is the unlucky bastard who is currently ganged up on lost his footing. Barry hears him drop to the ground with a faint thud. Kicks follow, as do pained groans.

Then, the noise of the assault stops.

Leaving only the sound of falling rain and faint Hip-Hop music, once more.

Barry keeps standing there, listening, and berates himself for being so damn stupid.

 _Go upstairs_ , he tells himself. _You can't help._

Who knows who the guy is they ganged up on? Maybe he isn't just an innocent victim. He probably isn't.

Keep your eyes and ears to yourself, Barry reminds himself of the smart advice Al gave him many years ago. _People who don't, tend to be the ones who life chews out._

Barry knows all about being chewed out.

It is just when he is about to turn to finally go back inside, that three of the once four men step back out onto the sidewalk.

Barry freezes and lowers his face, unconsciously pressing himself back against the cold wall behind him.

The men walk his way, causing Barry's heart to nearly leap up his throat. He slumps his shoulders, tries to make himself as small and inconspicuous as possible.

They don't slow down. Barry can feel their eyes on him briefly, but they clearly dismiss him as somebody unthreatening and not worth their time.

Just a dumb teenager. A dumb teenager who should be back at the campus, studying chemistry.

He waits till their footfalls fall silent before he dares to glance up towards the direction they are heading.

A pained groan reaches his ears, too loud to be ignored. Or maybe it only sounds like it to his ears.

 _Because I'm a nosy idiot who doesn't know how to stick to my own damn business_ , Barry thinks, annoyed.

The sensible thing to do would be to head back inside.

Barry has never been good with doing the sensible thing in these kinds of situations.

Exhaling a soft sigh, both in frustration an resignation, Barry starts to head toward the back-alley.

The man Barry spots still lying on the ground a moment later really looks like those three thugs ganged up on him.

He also is younger than Barry initially assumed. In his mid-twenties at most.

Probably someone who got paid a lesson by his partners in crime. He possibly messed up a job for backstabbed them. Or they backstabbed _him_. That's a common occurrence around here.

In any case, Barry is sure that he is dealing with a crook. Someone, he should keep a distance to not only because he hopes to work as a scientific investigator for the police one day, but because that would be the smart thing to do.

One doesn't walk up to beat up criminals who seem still lively enough to be able to let their frustration out on you.

Barry never thought of himself as overly smart, so he isn't surprised when he finds himself inching closer to the man on the wet, cold, and _very_ dirty ground.

 _He could be seriously hurt_ , Barry thinks, and that alone is all the reason he needs to be here.

"Y-You're okay?" His voice slightly trembles as he speaks, and he can feel his cheeks heat up in response. Not that the guy probably cares all too much about something like that, considering the circumstances.

Barry's heart is drumming nervously against his ribs as he attentively observes the man, careful to spot any signal that it would be better for him to scram.

The stranger tenses up visibly, before glancing up at him through squinted eyes, grimacing as he does so. He has probably a concussion.

He doesn't seem happy about spotting him there, not that Barry is surprised.

It still catches him off-guard when the man forces himself to sit up, grunting in pain as he does so.

Despite the beating he took, he seems at least in good enough of a shape to move. Not that he should do too much of that, right now, though.

So, now that he is here, in front of a beaten-up criminal, what is he supposed to do?

"D-Do... should I c-call an ambulance?" Barry asks, uncertainly. Common sense and first aid training tells him that that is exactly what he should do. Unfortunately, he is pretty sure the guy doesn't see it the same way.

"Fuck off," the stranger grunts, causing Barry to frown.

_Charming._

Not that the rebuff comes unexpectedly.

Barry feels at a loss what to do, while a voice in the back of his mind keeps berating him for being dumb enough for coming here, in the first place.

His pondering is cut short when Prince Charming suddenly forces himself onto his knee before getting up all the way with, despite apparent difficulties. Barry nearly tells him to wait, to not overdo it after the beating he just took. Getting up this so fast is not a good idea in his case. He could be seriously hurt.

As if on a cue, the man starts to sway, looking ghostly pale, and Barry reacts on instinct, reaching out to help before his brain even catches up.

The punch he gets in response should not have come as a surprise.

Really, he should have expected it.

Impulsive idiot, he is.

Barry staggers back as a sharp pain flashes through his head and loses his footing. He falls on his backside, grimacing at the harsh contact.

Fear overcomes him, slivers over him like a cold, velvety snake that swiftly proceeds to squeeze his chest, making breathing difficult.

He is so _dumb_. What was he thinking?

The stranger, the _man_ , has at least sixty pounds on him, judging by his physic, probably most of those muscles. It would be no problem for him to subdue Barry if he wanted to.

And he looks _pissed_.

 _Please, let him only beat me up_ , his manic mind thinks, catching himself off-guard.

For a second, Barry can't breathe. He feels sick as a familiar sense of terror overcomes him.

Then, a nearly overwhelming urge to laugh bubble up in his chest.

 _But I'm disgusting_ , Barry tries to argue with himself, desperately. He knows so with every fiber of his being. It's a truth like that the sun rises in the morning.

Other people know that too. They can sense it.

That's why they usually keep their distance to him. They can see how wrong he is. How dirty...

There has been something oddly reassuring about it. If you disgust people enough, they won't use you. Not like _that_. He hasn't had to deal with that kind of horror since he was twelve. Not since...

But something has changed. His wrongness seems no longer enough. It didn't deter Simon to see him as his friend, after all.

 _That's nonsense_ , a part of Barry hisses, upset over him thinking in that way about himself. It's the rational part, the one he usually can agree with when he isn't scared out of his mind.

 _Please, just go_ , Barry pleads silently. _I'm sorry. Just leave me alone._

The stranger's expression shifts. It turns from grimly amused to only grim. He studies Barry briefly, frowning.

"Don't meddle with stuff that isn't any of your business, kid."

 _I know!_ Barry nearly utters but is too scared to get a word out.

The man's eyes stay on him, and for a split-second, he looks like he wants to say something. He nearly appears concerned, then, which causes some of Barry's fear to subside a little.

The moment passes, though, and the thug instead turns and leaves. His movement is slow but sure. He appears undeterred, despite what just happened to him.

Barry can't help but envy him somewhat for that.

For the next couple of minutes, Barry keeps sitting there on the cold, wet ground, letting the rain slowly seep through his layers of clothing, as he gets himself to calm down.

By the time Simon turns up at the entrance of the back-alley, looking for him, Barry feels mostly like himself again. Not like the victim he has been working on to leave behind for the last year.

 _Set-backs are normal_ , he reminds himself. _Small steps are the key, one at a time._

Simon is visibly concerned when he helps Barry back up, but Barry assures him that he is fine.

It isn't really a lie, either.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this little piece. The urge to write it kinda jumped me out of nowhere.
> 
> It doesn't have the same light tone as the part from Len's POV, but I hope it wasn't too depressing of a read. Barry has really just left the abusive environment he grew up in and is still healing.
> 
> In case any of you wondered about what Barry thought towards the end about healing and setbacks, he got it from a self-help book he picked up from the library. He does not get professional help since nobody knows what he went through (Simon has an inkling, though), and Barry feels too ashamed to confide in anybody else.
> 
> Thank you all for reading! I hope you have a lovely week! :)


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